Super Eagles quest to steady their campaign in the direction of picking Group C ticket to the 2026 World Cup, will gain traction this evening as they confront Zimbabwe in a must-win clash inside the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo.

Already, new Manager of the team, Eric Chelle, has shown why he was considered the right man for the job, going all the way to Kigali to pick Super Eagles first full three points of the campaign against Rwanda last Friday.

Now, another three points in the bag today against Zimbabwe, would have comfortably turned around Nigeria’s previous hopeless situation. Nine points will put Super Eagles in full contention with leaders South Africa and Benin Republic for the sole ticket on offer in Group C.

However, the Warriors from Zimbabwe will not give up the points without a fight. If both Lesotho and South Africa could come to Uyo to play draw with Nigeria, the visitors from Harare must also be dreaming of their share of the booty! New Super Eagles gaffer, Chelle, has however shown that days of free launch for teams in Nigeria are over!

Already, he’s sticking with the crack line up that he conjured last Friday to inflict pains on Rwanda’s Amavubi right in their Amahoro Stadium fortress.

It is going to be full fireworks from the frontline led by irrepressible Victor Osimhen who is fast chasing to erase Rashidi Yekini all-time record as Nigeria’s top scorer!

Team Captain, William Ekong, reiterated on Monday afternoon that the three-time African champions will seek to control the game the way they did the encounter with Rwanda and then work hard to get the goals. 

“We are looking forward to a win. The three points are important to us. At this stage, we cannot afford to drop any more points. Our aim is to take it one match at a time, collect three points here and there and hope fervently that these will be enough to get us the ticket,” observed the Al Kholood of Saudi Arabia’s Pro League central defender.

Without a win in their first four games of the series, Nigeria languished in fifth place in the six-team group C and remained in a perilous situation, until Friday’s robust win over Rwanda in Kigali threw them up as a proposition for the ticket to the finals.

Nigeria, with six points now, moved up to fourth position, while Zimbabwe, on three, prop up the table, and will seek to increase their haul in Tuesday’s encounter.

Group C leaders South Africa, on 10 points, square up to second-placed Benin Republic, on eight points, at the Stade Félix Houphouet-Boigny in Abidjan in a match starting simultaneously with that of Uyo.

Lesotho, now in fifth place following their defeat by South Africa on Friday, will tackle Rwanda’s Amavubi in the last match of Group  C this evening.

South Africa.       5.   3.  1.  1.  8.    5.    +3.  10

Benin .                  5.   2.  2. 1.  6.    5.     +1.  8

Rwanda.              5.   2.  1.  2. 3.    3.      0.   7

Nigeria.               5.   1.  3.  1.  6.    5.     +1.    6

Lesotho .             5.  1.  2.   2.  3.    4.    -1.    5

Zimbabwe.          5.  0.  3.  2.  4.    8.   -4.   3

 

Namibia 1-1 E’Guinea

CAR 0-0 Mali

G’Bissau 1-2 B’Faso

Liberia 2-1 São Tomé 

Ivory Coast 1-0 Gambia

Madagascar 0-3 Ghana

 

Angola v Cape Verde

Benin v South Africa

Nigeria v Zimbabwe 

Rwanda v Lesotho 

Uganda v Guinea

Botswana v Somalia

Burundi v Seychelles 

Cameroon v Libya

Egypt v S’Leone 

Sudan v S’Sudan

Algeria v Mozambique 

Senegal v Togo

Morocco v Tanzania